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Sanford Meisner PDF
Sanford Meisner PDF
not know. The actor must not hnou. So how do we "not know "
not anticipate, not get ahead of where we ar€. (and not get
ready for that big moment in the next scenewhile in the miq-
dle of this scene!)
Sadly,for the most part, what I see in the theatre are actors who
are not really doing anything. Acting is doing. It is not talking
There is a great mistake, something is very wrong in the theatre
about-it is really doing. (By the way, very few directors know
today. The majoriry ofour theatre is a theatre where nothing rs
about this.) Sanford Meisner created a meticulous and expan-
really happening, nothing is really happening right nout. Not
sive process, a step-by-step, organic and healthy approach to
only is right nou.,alI rhat we have available to us in life, it is
the craft of acting. He told us that: "The seed to the craft of
absolutely the key to LIFE on the stage. Yet most actors are
acting is the reality ofdoing." Tbe seed,there could be no better
reproducing what has been done before. Attempting ro repeat
analogy,for this seemingly simple statement continually
what "clicked" in rehearsalor to recaDtur€ what "wowed!" lasr
unfolds with each step of the journey, it is the spine for all of
nightt audience.
the work.
This raises a wonderful question about one of our jobs as And yes, I did say a "healthy'' approach. Healthy becausethe
actors. How do we create "the first time" every time we oerform work is grounded in who we are today, not who we once lvere
the play? Clearly, the audience is paying to see the first tim. or what we once may have experienced. Also, and especially,
tonight not last night tonight. Yet, we have rehearsedthe play, becausethe whole realm of the actor's emotions and the emo-
made a multitude of choices, we've learned the words and mas- tional instrument is handled in a way unlike most other tech-
tered the blocking. So, "We already know" -Vhen the surprise niques. In this approach our emotions come freely, as a side
knock comes at the door in act two, we knoq and, we must benefit, a gift, when our attention is on something elseand that
The 5anford Meisner Approach Session One
something else is u,hat we are doing. The great news here is that Group Theatre members transformed acting in this country
when our attention is not on being emotional, our emotions some 60 years ago, I believe the work that we are taclding here
suddenly become much more available. is still revolutionary. For though the old gesturesmay be out,
the new posturesare in. A real moment in the theatre is
You know there are too many so-called acring classeswhich are extremely hard to find and when it does happen it is olien the
actually therapy sessionsdisguised as acting classes.Teachers result of an accident on stage-a prop was misplaced, the arm
who instigateor push the srudenr ro "get emotional" and leave of a chair falls off, or due to the rain and a lealcy ceiling, the
the student open and raw, without a senseof purpose or clo- actors are dripped on. For most actors these are disasters
sure. I have worked with many students who have been dam- becausethey are unplanned, not "set" in rehearsals-rather
aged by this kind of work. \fhat I want you to know is that than embraced as a wonderful surprise, simply something new
acting is nor emoting. Again, ACTING IS NOT EMOTING. to work-off to respond to!
Acting is doing something.Of course acting does demand of us
the abiliry to accessour own rich emotional life and the way in, I remember a scene in a play I saw a number of years ago. The
the organic way, is through meaningful doing. female lead walked away from the two men she was in conver-
sation vr'ith downstage right to go to a table that was upstage
left. Though rhe rwo men were still talking, my attention went
with the woman as she approached the table and on the table, a
In the 1930s, in New York Ciry, a man named Harold tray with a bottle of brandy and four glasses.When she arrived
Clurman, out of his unbound passionand his tremendous dis- and began to reach for the brandy, she had a most wonderful,
satisfaction with the theatrical experience in this country, aurhenric moment (the only one in this play) of sheer terror as
brought together some of the finest theatre artists of his time to she discovered that the three glasseswere already filled! She
cr€atea company which would totally and fantastically alter the froze in a state of panic as she tried to think of a way to handle
American theatre. They called themselvesThe Group Theatre, the situation. She finally picked up the bottle and proceeded to
and in the relatively short time they were rogether, from 1931 tilt it just enough over each glass so that it would look like she
until 1940, they brought a depth of spirit, a fervent life and was really pouring. Now wouldnt it have been much simpler to
soul to the stage that was unlike anphing American audiences notice that the glasseswere already filled and then to simply
had ever witnessed.They were committed to building a new serve them?
kind of theatre that was truly collaborative and which spoke to
the moral and social issues of their time. Many greats of the
Isn't it so much simpler and doesn't it make so much more sense
theatre came out of the Group's founding company-one of
when reading a letter on stageto actually read tbat letter rather
them was Sanford Meisner.
than to pretend to read a piece of paper with squiggly lines on
it. lVith squiggly lines you must remember to move your eyes
'When
we think of American acring prior to the Group and in the correct manner to make it look like yolu are actually read-
look at the examples we have in the silent films, we think of ing. Vhy not actually read?Less to think about and much less
large, cliche gestures and exaggeratedposing. And though the effort, your eyeswill look like they are reading becausethey are
4
The Sanford Meisner Approach Session One
reading and you don't have to work at making the audience Let me ask you a few questions. Did you do it? Did you try to
believe you. You know what? You can never make an audience do it or did you quickly give up? Did you get the answer?Vas
believe you, you can only invit€ them to shareyour experience. it very difficult and still you gave it your best shot? Listen, the
answer doesn't matter, itt never about the results. It's always
These examples are useful to illustrate, at a very basic level, this about the attempt. IT IS ALL IN THE AITEMPT. And while
thing called the reality of doing.-When you do something, you you tried, who was doing the multiplying? Was it you? rVas it
dont pretend to do it, you really do it. fu I said earlier, this is you as Gregory Peck in Z Kill a Mockingbird or you as Joanne
'Woodward
the underpinning to all of our work, for ultimately when we are in Rachel Fachel Or were YOU MULIIPLYING?
supposed to be madly in love in a moment of the play, we must Though you didn't get the answer, were YOU REALLY
BE madly in love in that moment. -When we are supposed to be DOINGTHAT?
enraged, we must actually be enraged. (Of course, you might
ask about stabbing the hero, watching a distant sunset, or get-
I bet, if you really tried, something happened to you. You
ting drunk on stage. I'm sure youve already determined that we
might have noticed yourself laughing, grunting, feeling hope-
dont actually do these things on stage. It is when we have made
less, or having some other response to this nearly impossible
the meaning of these acts extremely personal and specifically
task. If so, w€re you pretending to have that response to
meaningful that we are able to accept them and live them out
impress me? Of course not, I'm just a book! You responded
as if they are real. With this acceptance,the impact they have
however you did because you were really trying to multiply.
on us, IS REAL!)
YOU CAME TO LIFE because you were really doing some-
thing! And you didnt haie to force or push or even think about
And though many directors are concerned with projection, not having an emotion. Your authentic response was out of your
many are aware that it is only, I'll say that again, it is onQ with control while your attention was on what you were doing.
the actors actual experienceon stage that we reach ev€ry sear in Remember that!
the house, reach every person where they live. I know this is
true. As Sandy told us, it is never about being bigger, it is
always about going deeper.
A\rARM UP
I want to give you a very simple experience of the realiry of
doing. Look at the following two numbers than close your eyes I want you, as a group, to do the following little game togeth€r.
and in your minds eye, not on paper, multiply the two num- It's a story-telling game and it works like this: Sit in a circle and
bers.The rwo numbers are: get real tight rogether, pick a person who will begin the story
and pick a direction the story will go around the circle. Now
7948X6988. the rules are that each person may only say one word and as
Do it now and then read on. you go around the circle, you must tell a story. So, do you have
your person who will begin and the direction? Good. Now if
anyone says more than one word, you must stop and start a
ne\/ story. Go ahead and give it a try. Do it for a while and
The Sanford Meisner Approach
SegsionOne
when you cant bare it any longer, keep it going.
Then, at some right next to you givesyou their word, that you will discover
polnr, stop and read on.
what comesoucofyour mouth.
'What
then must you be doing? Youmut be listeningend,you
I want you ro do it again and this time I want know what? The more you are listening the lessyou will be
you to know that
your mission is to become like one person preparing, controlling. The successof this game comes from
teliing a story. That
means rhat you musr take out all thi pauses really listening and tahing ultat you ger. The more you can do
b.ri..r, .".h p.._
son. So let the story whip around the circle. this, the more you will rust that a word will in Factcome our
This requires that
you rry to tahe the story but that you allow the stiry of your mouth and that with that word, you will tell the storv.
l:t to tahe
yo.u.N,so, you may find the story very funny
ar times. lbid yor',
all end up on the floor laughing?) ir."r,o Having said all thar, give it one more try wirh eyes open and
have a responseto
what is happening bur when it gets in the then readon.
way ofwhat you are <l:iAi i'\
trying to accomplish, nor so great. So, this
time take out all
pauses and become like on€ person telling
a story. Go ahead
and do that for about ten minutes.
REPETITION
The First Step
Try it one more time with rwo additions. Firsr, Our working definition of acting is, 'Acting is living truthfully
the srory musr
include two main characters.you will discover under imaginary circumstances."Liuing Truthful$. After the
them you t.lt
the story. Second, tighten up your circle, ", yearsI havespent working in the theatre,I keep coming back
get real close and this
time I want you to do it with your .y., llo..d. to the profound powerand beautyof this very simplephrase.It
Go ahead and
do that now and then read on. is the coreofour work together.
8
The Sanford Mea3nerApproach
SessionOne
N:-: *i,l our first step,"repetition,',we aregoing to bring Exercise
this 1. MECHANICAL REPETITION
whole thing called acting down to its simplestlJvel. In joing
so, I am going to take a number of things awayfrom you. l. Thke rwo chairs and place them facing toward each other.
Just
as.in the scalesfor a pianist, many ofthe keyscannot be played. 2. You and your partner each sit down in a chair so that you are
i' not playingANYTHING,het ptayinjTitts both facing each other. Have a little room between the fwo
l: ar'].ii".
SCAI F- It is by the specificstructure or bot,.,daryof .f,. .."1. ofyou.
that ultimately he is set free.The scaleswill disappearand what
3. Pick one person to start rhe exercise. We'll call you Partner
remainsis the musicianIN the music. Samething with repetr_
tion. I will give you some specific rules to folloi,, a stru;ture 4, For Partner A:
which, down rhe road, will disappearand what will be left is
you in your acting.
First I want you to rurn your head away from your partner.
(who we will call Partner B).
Today,I will also give the first instructions to the .,Observer.,,
Very simply, the Observerwill be assisringand supporting the
*To the Obseruer:Afer
Partnerswho are at work in the exercise.M"rrv ii.rr.r, ,ior. you read through to Step 5, ulten Partner
who are working will be unable ro ,,see"the thi.rg, th.y A bas nrned his or her head auay you taill tahe a moment and
"..
doing, or not doing, rhat are getting in the way oi their own then say "Begin" or "Go" to start the exercise.The Obseruer will
progress.The Observert main job will be to help eachpartner continue to do this throughout todq\ Session.
becomeaware of what is happening. Charrgebegins with
awarenesslAs your skills grow as you acrually do the acti.rg Partner A, when you hear "Begin" or "Go" from the Observer,
exercises,you will also grow in your effectivenessas the turn your head back and say outloud rhe ueryr
frst thing yow
Observer. ACTUALLY NOTICE over there on your partner. This must
be a physical obseruation.(For example, if the first thing I was
Throughout the book, I will be giving the Observer specific aware of as I looked at my partner were her eyes, I would say
things to be warching for as well *"y. ,o i.rt.rr.r *ith th. "eyes" or if it was her green sweater I would say "green
partnerswho are doing the work. ",you may be uncomfortable sweater.")Again it is whatever you ACTUALLY norice and not
playing the.Observer,giving feedbackwhen you dont really what you might conjecture. So you would not say, "You had a
'have
.it all down yei' yourself Thatt great.V.irr, gr.". .p".. bad day' or "You dont like me" and so forth.
to.be in. ri(/hara greatplacefor true learning to ocJur!
"
Listen,
will you make mismkes?Probably.Is it okay io make mistakes?
5. Go ahead and try that a few times, waiting for rhe Observer
Absolutely!If you simply say whar you seeand stick to your
to get you started. Then switch and Partner B try that a few
own simple ruth, you'll do jusr fine. So, be honest ani be
times. Then read on.
olrect.
11
The Sanford Meisner Approach session One
'What
you just practiced was something called tabing the hear, do nothing else. Now put Step I and 6 together. Partner
first
thing. It is an extremely important element in our work. .*4ren A starts and makes the observation which begins the repetition
you look over at your parmerr you musr say the very first thing and then you continue repeating, *luay rePeating tuhat yu
that you are aware of. You also must become aware ofwhen you bear.Nso,ONCE YOU BEGIN, KEEPTHE REPETITION
dont do that. \X/hat i mean is that you musr notice when you GOING AND DO NOT DROP OUT OF THE REPETI.
seesomething and you dont say it and then look for something TION UNTIL THE OBSERVERSAYSTO STOP!NO
else to observe so rhat you can say thar. This usually happens MATTERV}IAI!
very quickly, so quickly thar you might not be aware of it. So
now, I am asking you to bring it into awareness.Are you sayirrg
"To the Obseruer: You will tell them when to stop. Keep uarying the
the very first thing that you notice over there?
length of each exerciseso that those uorbing u,on't begin to antici'
pdte xuhen it is getting near the end. Sornetimes it might be
"To the Obseruer: You must help tbem here by pointing out to the painfulQ long and. other times a number of seconds. And anltubere
Partner uho starts xuhen tbey did not use tlte uerl frst thing they in-benueen. As they arc worhing the partners may begin to baue
were alaare of Stal rekxed in your attention, rthat I mean is, all hinds of responsesto the uorh. Cenain$t allou., the rePetition to
don't strain to see if it happens, trust that yu will not;ce it if it continue through theseand seeu,here it bads.
does. When you do notice rhis occuning, simply sa1, "Start again
and tahe the ueryfrst thing you are au.tareof " Do this througbout
Go ahead and give it a try, each partner having a chance to start
today'ssession.
the repetition * *^'*.": then read on'
Tiy Step 5 again with this information. You might starr ro over- ::::"1'."'-
ly watch yourself for a few moments, that's OK for risht now.
Go aheadand eachofyou try Step 5 a few more rimes and then S o m er h i n g st o b e a w a r eo f a r t h i s p o i n r :
proceedto Step 6.
Vhile working, did you notice the word changing at all or did
your partner add another word or even a sound to what was
being said? Did any mistakes occur to the word you started
6. The next step: with as you were repeating?You know what, THERE ARE NO
MISTAKES. (It's the same on stage-there are no mistakes,
Now, start again with Partner A making the physical observa- you must accept and embrace everlthing that happens!) The
tion. After Partner A begins, I wanr Parrner B to repeat what rule is: Thke what you get from your partner and repeat exactly
you hear. So if Partner A says"green sweater," Partner B will say ' what you hear. So if your partner changes "circle on the slirt"
"green sweater."Then Partner A, I want you to repeat to "shirkle on the cert" you must repeat "shirkle on the cert"'
what you
hear, "green sweater," and now Partner B, you repear what you Do you then work your way back to "circle on the shirt?" No,
hear, "green swearer," and you keep going, aht,ays repeating what is in the past is over and dead, all you have is what is hap
ruhat you hear. Simple, right? Yes it is. Simply repeat what you pening right now and you work from that.
12
The Sanford Meisner Approach session One
*To the Obseruer: (Remember, listening is doing.) Also notice how naturally, sim-
if either parmer doesnot repeat exactll uhat the
other p€rson jast gdae to them, stop tlte exerciseand ask if they taere p l y , a n d o n t h e i r o w n a h e s er e s p o n s e sh a p p e n e d . T h a t ' s
autare of uthat uas jux said to them. If not, tell them uthat they GREAI!
missedand then begin again. Ako, abernate ullo stdrts the exercise.
*To the Obseruer: Your job bere is to heep the repetition going.
'Vhateuer
Hout uill you hnow if they heard it and didn't repeat it? Because responsethe partners haue to lepeating urith each other is
you heard it. You see,fom your seat,you are really doing repetition fantasic, AND, do not l.€t them g;ae t? the repetition. For exam-
tuith both partners. (Not out loud, of course.) Make sure they are ple, Partnn A ma1 laugb so hard that sbe has a hard time speah-
precise in repeating €xactl! ubdt u.,asgiuen to them. ing. Help her to haae ber responseand to repeat, allouting the
uords to come out bou.naerthey come out AS SHE IAUGHS. Do
'DON'T
Listen, this is new for you too, lou ma! miss some changes. Tbat's lou get that? You can yell something lihe, DROP THE
OK, do the bestyou can, right? Your auarenessas tlte Obseruer uill REPETITION!" And if it takesyelling to be heard, YELL! Mahe
cont;nuall! grow. Aho, this doesnot mean thry sbould be rcpeating sule lou are heard! Also, udtch for, if in the mid* of a large
a cough or a kugh, this gas yu more into the area of mimiching, responselihe this, this partner drops out of listening to the other
which is talhed about;n the next bointer. person. You can sa1, "Put your attent;on bach on your partner and
rePe/tt!"
Important note: V/hen you were repeating, were you copying
your partner? In other words, were you mimicking how your ti7hen the Observer interacts with those of you who are work-
partner said what he or she said? IF so, dont. It's not about ing, do not come out of the exercise. Simply take the note the
copfng the qualiry of how it is said, it is simply about repeat- Observer just gaveyou, keeping your amention on your partner,
ing what you hear. How it comes out of your mouth, leave and keep going. Remember, never drop out ofthe exerciseuntil
alone. Thatt a lot simpler, isnt it? the Observer saysto stop.
Did you notice anJ'thing happening with you as you repeated? Never do anything more than is actually happening. What I
Did you laugh or want to laugh or did you both laugh togeth- mean is, be aware of any desire to be interesting.Do not pur-
er?Any other responses?Ifso, what did you do with your expe- posely do anything with the words. Leave yourself alone and
rience-did you try ro get yourself back together so that you repeat what you hear. Your attention must be over there with
could do the exerciseright? The rule here is to have whatever your Parrner.
experience yo:u haue and repeat If you start laughing, great-
laugh and repeat. If you're bored, be bored and repeat. By rhe As soon as you hear what you hear, repeat what you hear.-Tate
way, do you have an idea as to where your responsecame from? out any pausing that might be occurring between hearing what
Ifyou said the other person you are correct! Vhar was happen- you hear and your repeating it. This is not technical, it is not
ing with you came from your connection with each other, a about "pacing," it is simply, there is nothing to think about so
connection which occurs as you really listen to each other. when you hear what you hear, repeat what you hear. This does
The Sanford Meisner Approach Session One
not mean rushing. You musr not be "topping" what your part- Stay relaxed and dont try so hard to get the exerciseright. In
ner is saying or in other words, repeating what he is saying facr, trling to do the exerciseright is not doing the exerciserightllt
beforehe has actually finished sayingit. is the TRYING that creates a tension which will shut down
your true availabiliry.
Vhy do you think this is important? If you jump in too soon,
you are working from the assumption thar you already know There is no need to keep the exerciseon ffach becausetbere is no
what your partner is going to say. You are assuming that what trach.
has happened before will happen again. (Like in life when we
"already know them" the relationship h dead.) Do you see that?
There is no ruhere to get to solou might as tuell be there- Do you
She may have said "curly hair" the last rwenty times but isnt it
see that? There is truly nowhere to get to! Isn't that a relieP
possible,isnt it POSSIBLE that this time she will say_some-
How much of our lives are we trying to get somewh€re else?
thing else? (Though your father has always put down and 'When
I do this or that I will have arrived! How often am I
mocked psychotherapy, is it possible tlat today he will have a
actually right where I am? How often am I right here, right
sessionwith a therapist?Yesit is. It is possible.)An actor must
now? You see, acting must always be: right now, right now,
neaerassumeanlthing!You never know what your parrner will
right now, right now, right now, right now, right now...each
say until they have said it. So don't wait and dont rush, simply "right now" taking us forward. How magnificent when we can
repeat what you hear when you have heard it.
stand fully in RIGHT NO\f!
Session Two
Now there are some things to talk about.
20
The Sanford Meisner Approach Session Two
She said " Youre wearing a grey shirt," so I would now repeat, and from your truthfirl point of view Now do somerepetition
" I m w e a r i n g a g r e y s h i r t . " I r e p e a r e dw h a t I h e a r d a n d I
and work with this new information. Each partner begin five
changed rhe " You'rewearing..." to " Im wearing..." to keep the timesand then readon.
truth of what was happening, which was about my shirr.
(Explaining ir is making it sound more complex than it really
is, as you will seewhen you do some more repetition. Let me
make a few more points before you rVork again.) Other things to be aware of now:
22
The Sanford Meisner Approach session Two
and it happens so quichly that it is ofen hard to notice. All of yu thing. Whe n we don't tell the truth on stage' the audience
must become aware of uthen you do this. 81 stopping tlte exercise knows. No matter what you may think, they know!
and lening the person hnou., they are pausing to thinh, thq will
soon ht go of this old babit, simply out of the neu) au)arenets. In a moment, you will do some more repetition. If you are
Change begins only with au,arenes. working in a group, those who are watching should start to
notice what is going on with the partners who are doing repeti-
Right now, you may encounter resistanceto saying the first tion. (I'm planting a seedhere!) As the partners repeat, what
thing. In other words, you are censoring your first response. responsesare they haiing and how would you describe what
My partner might look at me and see "big nose" but not want you see happening with them? (Is something making them
to say it for fear of hurting my feelings. It's not nice to say excited, or are they bored stifP Are they relaxed and calm or
"Youve got a big nose" and it is urgent that she does! Vhy do filled with anxiery?)
you think? In our acting, we must get beyond the actyou and I
*'To the Obseruer:At times, wlten
have so carefully mastered in life. This is not a good/bad thing 1ou are daare of sometbing spe'
and itt not a criticism. it's survival. Most people speak of me as cifc happening with one of the partners, stoP the repetition and let
"a very quiet and intense guy." Is rhat all I am? Of course not, I the group members who are not. taolhing, each say what they saw
am all kinds ofthings, as are you. happening with that person, in that moment. Do not discussit,
simply haue eacli Person state tuhat they sau happening ilom their
In our work together, the beginning of becoming rhe full ottn point of uieu. ("You got mad" or, "That madeyou uncomfort'
expressionof ALL that we are, starts with saying the first thing able" or, "You realfi enjoyedthat," and so on.) Then haae the part-
and dropping the nice 16u1ing-x1d I'm not saying dont be ners who are worhing jump bach into rePetition. By the tuay, are
nice. You must give up being nice and I AM NOT SAYING all ofyou right in your obseruations? It's not nbout being rigbt, it's
DON'T BE NICE. Do you get that? Acting has no room for about what you got from utlterelou are sitting, uhat you hnow
niceties, reasonablenessor "being appropriate." (Vhen you are (Lihe the tuaentYuitnestes at a banh rob-
fom your point of uietu.
really living in the present, you are always appropriate!) berl utho haue twenty dffirent stories.)
Also you must realize that saying the uuth to our parrners is a
gift, always! They now have something real to respond to, OH Go ahead now and each do a good ten minutes of repetition'
BOY! They are real with me and I have a real responseto that. lWhen you have finished, stop' Go get some Ereat Mexican
As opposed to most of life where very little real communication food.
EVER HAPPENS. Vhy are so many relationships dead or
dying? Vhy are so many employeeshaving heart attacks?FIow
many times have I spent a week going over in my head what I
"SHOULD HAVE SAID!" 1love what David Mamet says,rhar HOME\SORK
people go to the theatre so that they can seerhat real communi-
BeforeSessionThree, meet with a panner a minimum of rwo tinqs
cation between human beings is still possible. Oh, one more
and at eachmeetingdo at leasttwenty minutes of the repetition.
r
lngiration may be a form of super-conseiousness,
or perhaps of Session Three
subconsciousness-Iuouldn't hnou. But I arn sure it is the
antith esis of self conscious
ness,
\TARM UP
Begin today with twenty minutes of repetition and then read on.
2A
The Sanford Meisner Approach Session Three
In our acting we want to take away from ourselvesany way out, Back to repetition: I now want you to take something away
any safety net and we wanr ro say exactly r,vhat we mean. So from your repetition. You no longer need to look away from
start catching yourself as you do this and stop, then say it over, each other to start the repetition. Now, you will sit down facing
tell your partner what you got from their behavior withour the each other and begin. Vho begins?You'll find out as you sit
buffer word. down. Vhoever begins, begins. There is nothing to wait for:
t*4ratever is the first thing you get as you sit with each other, is
*To the Obseruer: If the parmers
u,'orking use tbe uords "you looh the thing you start with. So the looking away business,to get
like," or "you seem"and so on, stop them and tell them so that thel the first thing, served its purpose and is no longer needed'
can begin to tahe those words out of their acting aocabular!. V/hat I'm saying is, we are through with it so dont do it any-
'We are always
more. (That's very much how this work goes.
You may be finding, at times, that when your partner repears moving forward, never going back.)
your question, you think there is nothing to describe because
very little is happening. Listen, THERE IS NEVER NOTH- *To the Obseruer: Once the rePetition has begun, yu utill call out
ING, THERE IS ALVAYS SOMETHING! (ltt like your best
tbe Partners' names to baue tltem u.,orhfom a neu obseraation.
friend calling you up late on Saturday nighr and saying, "Hey, I
Nou, the repet;tion utill not stop but uill be continuous. So, leti
just went on that blind date you set me up on and boy did that
sal the rePetition is under utay and you say "Nancy Go!" Nancl
girl have no personality!" That really isn't rrue is it? Isn't there
uill immediately say tahateuer sbe'sauare of ouer on her partner,
really no such thing as "no personaliry?" There is always some
in that moment, and tbe repetition continues-the Partners utork'
kind ofpersonaliry you see?)All you can do is tahe uhat you get
ing fom tbis netu obseruation.Then, at somePoint lou sab, "Bill
and work from that. So ifyour partner just looks blank to you,
Go!" Bill uill nota immediatei say uhat be obseruesin that
you might say, "You're blank" or, "That doesnt do much for
moment and onuard thel go. And so on... You tuill continue to do
you" or whatever words you find.
this tbrougltout tlte exercise.Haue fun and be trichy Gall the same
persons name three times in a rou, and soforth) so that the part'
Did you find this difficult? Are you finding it hard to "read"
nerscannot dnticiPate the changes.
your partner? It is difficult! Ve are stretching new muscles here!
What I want you to know right now is that what you get from
Now do ten .'"*'"tj':':":': set of partners'
your partner is not simply what you see with your eyes.
Sometimesyou may get somerhing and not really know how :'::"
you got it, yet you have a hunch about it. TRUST THAT
HUNCH. Ve'll talk more about this later, now I want vou ro
HOME\(ORK
do some work.
Betweennow and SessionFour, meet at l€asttwice with a part-
I want you ro play the Three Moment Game for twenty min- ner and at each meeting do twenty minutes of the Three
utes. Then read on. Moment Game. Then do ten minutes of repetition.
30
b.-
The Sanford Meisner Approach
CI"{RIFICAIION
Seeyou at SessionFour!
33
Session Four
take out the thinking about what you get from your partner's
behavior as they repeat the question and tell them what you got
immediately! Then, let that third moment lead you into repeti-
tion. Here is an example:
Working-Off As you let the third moment lead you into repetition, continue
repeating for seven or eight moments only. Do not go on at
length as you have done before. OK, you can go ahead now
and do the Three Moment Game in this manner for twenry
minutes. Vork now and then read on.
\rARM UP
Do ten minutes of the Three Momenr Game and then read on.
How does that feel?In the third moment, did you find that
sometimes you knew that you got "something?" from your
THREE MOMENT GAME: PARTII partner but you could not immediately find the words to
describe it? That's OK. If you dont have the words you must
You know, what we are doing with the Three Moment Game is still respond to what you got from your Partner, so, respond in
'\fle
crucial. are isolaring this thing called behavior. We are some way. You don't have to say it good and it doesnt have to
zooming in on behavior and strengthening our ability to really make sense!So if your partner screamsin delight your immedi-
seeit. (And I dont mean just with the eyes.)As actors, we really ate responsemight be "\(O\7EE \7O\w \7O\7 VO\?!" You
must get on intimate rermswith the domain of behavior... see,it is better to respond immediately, than to stop ro "Get tt
right" or "Say it well", AL'$7AYS!
Now, I want you to do the Three Moment Game in the follow-
ing way. Everything srays rhe same except for the third I want you to read on into the next section now, as we bring
mom€nt. Now the third moment musr happen immediately. So the next element of the repetition into play.
34
TheSanfordMeisnerApproach Session Four
36
The Sanford Meisner Approach
Session Four
responseto that. I want you each to do twenry minute of reoe_
Did you find that, at times, you were aware of yourself having
tition now, working-off your partner.
thoughts during the repetition? A lot of times these thoughts
are the very dring you could have said to your parmer but didnt,
*Tb the
Obseruer and All Group Members: you all must nout be so you end up thinking about it. For example: You feel that
actiae participants, taorhing in you must, at all timet, your partner is "taking control" and you hear yourself repeating
lnur seats.
be "uorhing-of" the tLUo automatically (like a roboQ For a good many moments while in
?artners who are doing repetition, sittmg
o,n.the edge of your seats improuing your head you are thinking, "God, het controlling this thing!"
lour own abit;4, to *orh_of
behauior. You must not be sitting bach passiuely raaiting to be There are two things to do:
mtertained! The question i, u.,hatareyo* gming
fom uthae jou are?
First, you must begin to allow that voice in your head to be
'Work
now, twenry minutes for each set of partners and then expressedto your partnet "God, you're controlling this thing!"
let's ralk. You see,thatt the repetition!
38
That's a big deal for us actors, isn't it. Let's include acting
teachershere as well, becausethis is precisely where many
teachers are crippling, even damaging their students, by
encouraging various forms of psychological warfare in the
classroom. In my experience of working with actors and
acting students around the country, the "emotions" are cer-
tainly an area of confusion as well as a sorrce of tremen-
Chapter 0ne dous frustration.
settingthe stage 3
Now in life, what is it do you think that gets us to take course in this aspect of the work becausewe are specifi-
action when it is not easyor within ouf comfoft zone to do cally isolating this thing called emotion and putting it under
so? Isn't it always because we have a very stfong and per- the micfoscope. Unfortunately, many actofs don't then
sonal need? Isn't it always because our feelings about that deal with the more advanced and esSentialaspectsof inter-
particular thing run deeply, so deep that we move our. pfetation, and they become trapped in a haze of emotional
selv€spast all the head's cautions to wait, to be careful, to self-consciousness.(ffhich is why this is book two of my
do it tomoffow, to leave it alone, that it's not that impor- four book serieson the Meisner Approach. Books three and
tant an)'way,that we'fe better off where we afe, that people four will be dealing with the acting tools of working with
may not like us if we follow ouf impulse to do this thing? text and interpretation.)
And let's face it, you and I are emotional beings. We afe Going back to the violin analogy, if you were a violin
born fully alive emotionally. As infants, we are not only student and you worked long and hard enough on the
uttedy expressive of what's going on with us, we are much scales, at some point your fingers would go to the riotes
mofe aware of and responsive to the inner state of the peo- you want to play without having to think about it. Same
ple around us - what's actually going on with them - than thing here. I have found that, out of dealing with emotion
the words they speak. As adult actors, we must re-open directly and discoveririg ways to work with ourselves in a
ourselvesto that kind of emotional availability becauseit is deeper way, and as we learn specifically where to channel
tfue on stage as well, that the words are never really telling all that we are feeling, we eventually become much less
the whole story. If th€ play is to live , we must be aware of concerned with emotion. And so, ultimately, through this
and responsive to what's really going ofl with our partnefs very demanding portion of the Meisner Approach, you will
on stagein each momeflt. develop a more expansive and richer acting instrumefit and
you will experience greater freedom in your work. Greater
Also, it is vital that we are able to "realize," to fulfill, the freedom. Sounds good, right?
emotional demands of the script. We don't have a violin to
play - we afe the instrument, and so we want to be able to This would be a good time to introduce you to emo.
"play" the full range of our own unique notes; not only the tional preparation and explain more specifically what it is.
limited fange of notes we play in our day-to-daylife, the
entire range! Now, as we work together, we will be doing
some "getting emotional." For a while, you may even become
overly "emotion conscious." I find that to be par for the
T H EE X E R C I S E S